Leavened 
Bread 
Mold 
Mildew 
6 HOUSEHOLD BACTERIOLOGY . 
What did you find on your return? A slimy film over 
the surface of the water, did you not? 
Such experiences may be familiar to all. A few 
years ago these changes were thought to be due to the 
oxygen of the air, which in some way, under certain 
conditions, made some things sour, some bitter, and 
others putrid. 
In the days of our grandmothers much of the 
bread was made with leaven like that used in Bible 
times—a mixture of flour and water exposed to the 
air and whatever the air contained. This was called 
“barm.” Such bread is still common in some parts 
of our country, and known as “salt-rising bread,” 
and the barm when made with milk is called “milk 
emptins.” 
In the old days a portion of the leavened mass 
was kept to start the next batch of bread. Occa¬ 
sionally this was forgotten or it spoiled, then the 
housewife borrowed from her neighbor, as when the 
fire on the hearth was out, a coal was borrowed. 
Sometimes now the yeast raised sponge becomes slight¬ 
ly sour before it is ready for baking. Why ? 
Apple or other sauces containing sugar ferment 
or sour and the housewife scalds them. This may 
make them as palatable as when freshly stewed. Yet 
they often turn sour again and, after a while, scalding 
or even boiling does, not remove the sharp or sting¬ 
ing effect upon the tongue. 
The moist bread in the jar is found specked with 
mold; some August morning the sprinkled clothes 
